Page 5 of The HalloQueen

“What the hell,” I shrugged and extended my hand, “give me your phone.”

Thomas glowed with victory and handed over his beaten-up phone that was at least four years old. I typed in my number and hit call, waiting for the intro of Steve Miller Band’s “Abracadabra” to begin playing from my purse before hanging up and handing it back to him.

“Don’t make me regret that, Thomas.”

He gave me a perfectly mischievous lopsided grin, “Moi? Never, Annabel. I shall talk to you soon.”

“Yeah… talk to you soon,” I grabbed my bags and headed toward my car, feeling intensely like I’d forgotten something, but I knew I had everything I came in with. It was like my body didn't want to leave the store, but I carried on, getting back to my Jeep and climbing in, putting the bags next to me in the passenger seat. I shook out my hands and took a cleansing breath. Why was that so intense? That shouldn’t have felt that crazy, I was just buying things from his store and flirting a little. That’s all it was.It shouldn’t have felt like a defining moment.

* * *

When I returned to the office, Shannon still had it darker than the Bat Cave and I found her hiding under her desk doing work on her phone, which was set to dark mode.

“What the hell, Shannon, how much did you drink last night?” I asked, “It’s like two in the afternoon and you’re still a zombie.”

“I’m notstilla zombie,” She groaned as she stuck her head out to look at me, “I’m just…pregaming the fact that I’m going to absolutely be a zombie tomorrow.”

I plopped into her chair, ‘What are you talking about?”

She beamed, and if there was any light in the room, I thought that I’d see her blushing like a schoolgirl, “he asked me to go out again tonight. The girls are with their dad, so I think I’m going to do it.”

“Two nights in a row? Doesn’t that send the wrong message?” I opened her desk drawer to her stash of chocolate bars and handed her one and opened my own, “Besides, I thought you said the guy was extra.”

She shrugged and opened the chocolate, releasing a small moan as it melted in her mouth, “he was, but the cringy karaoke was before I saw his enormous dick.”

I cackled, “Okay, but how can you trust your judgment? If you were so drunk that a cringe guy became a hookup, how do you know that it wasn’t just a jumbo crayon down there?”

She ate another piece of chocolate, “If it was, he knew how to use it and that’s what matters.”

“Again, how do you know you weren’t just so drunk youthoughthe knew how to use it?”

“Fine, bossy, if you want to screen him for me, come out with us tonight. If he doesn’t pass your test I’ll drop him and continue fucking my way through town.”

Laughing was natural and easy with Shannon. She had no filter and no shits left to give when her daughters weren’t around, and I loved when she was able to turn off mom mode and turn back into a young professional, and since she’d entered her ho phase, I enjoyed her even more. I’d had several serious boyfriends, and I dated and hooked up with my fair share of men and women in college, but I’d never had the balls to do it with someone in Quaker's Wharf as an adult. Something was unsettling to me about fucking where you ate. I didn’t want to hook up with some horrible lay from 7th grade and then run into them at the gas station for all eternity. Quaker's Wharf had more than enough tourists if I ever got brave enough and needed a fix, but townies were not my typical fare.

“I can’t, Shan, you know I have to get everything ready for the launch. I feel like I could work around the clock for the next week and I still wouldn’t finish.”

“You do know that there’s such a thing as overworking right? Come blow off some steam and then on Monday you’ll be able to come in and kick some ass. Take the weekend off. Your list will still be here on Monday.”

“Oh please, you’ve been hiding under your desk for your entire work day, I’ve got to do my work and everything you weren’t able to do today,” I scoffed.

“Bels, come on. Come out with me. I only get six weekend days a month to let my hair down, let’s go have some fun.” I skeptically grimaced and she pushed on, “the kids are at their dad's two weekends a month. You can come let your hair down for those and work yourself to death the other 24 days. It’s balance. When was the last time you even went out for a drink?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know. I’m still settling from the move.”

“Yeah, but you grew up here, it’s not like you don’t know where to go or who’s going to be there. Come on. Go with me. Please? Please? Please?” She gave me a perfect impression of her oldest daughter, Annie’s whine.

“Ugh, where are you going and when?”

“Witchcraft.”

“The club downtown? It’s tourist season, are you insane?”

“Hey, the drink specials are good and it’s easy to get lost if you need to bail on someone.” She grinned, “Please come, Bels?”

“Fine. But I’m not paying for parking so you’re paying for my rideshare.”

“Of course! I’m getting ready at your place anyway.”

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